It has been said with some degree of understatement that this area of law has what are termed fundamental social and moral implications. I have just outlined two. However, there is a third consideration because the fundamental issue in any debate on insanity and the criminal law – something that goes right to the heart of the matter – is the moral distinction that needs to be drawn between the bad and those who do not necessarily have the mental capacity to commit crimes. At this point I want to sound a word of caution which has to do with the intention and policy considerations behind this Bill. I can put those words of caution no better than has been expressed by noted commentators, Finbarr McAuley and Paul McCutcheon, in this jurisdiction in their leading authority on the issue, Criminal Liability:Legal and medical evaluations of the conditions that might properly attract the label "insanity" can differ profoundly. The law regards several conditions, such as epilepsy and hypoglycaemia, that medical professionals do not classify as mental disorders as a basis for the insanity defence. This highlights the different perspectives of the relevant disciplines and it should be realised that the defence raises a legal question of responsibility, not an issue of medical diagnosis and classification. Nevertheless, it is invariably the case that medical evidence is adduced at trial and, it can be assumed, is taken into account in the determination of the defendant's sanity. Thus, while a degree of congruence between the medical and legal evaluations can be expected, the ultimate resolution of the issue is one of law, not medicine.